Monday, 28 April 2008

Hangovers and explosions

"The real trouble with reality is that there's no background music"

My head spins, last night was a heavy session, Slivowitz will do that to you but I make myself a cup of Earl Grey and try to wake up. The intel channels are silent, in fact there's no-one about but soon the station comes to life and the locals start to wake up. The eerie silence is broken by ships systems onlining and work crews starting the daily grind.

The tea is having an effect and I get about getting some work done, I'm trying a new Rupture setup and I got my deck crew to get everything loaded. I also made sure they loaded the small ECM drones instead of the usual DPS that I carry. This setup would require a new way of thinking and engaging but I was keen to learn.

I went to Eifer to see if anything was about and soon tracked a Stabber to a belt, I warped in and he bugged out, a young pilot but one who wanted to learn, I offered a 1v1 but he was hesistant but wanted to see how he'd fare against an older and more experienced pilot. He offered terms of 10ml to the victor as long as we stopped in structure and I agreed. He warped back in at 100 clicks and I closed the distance, locked and waited for him to be comfortable and engage, he did and it was go, I acticated my guns, knowing full well the outcome of the fight as he had allowed me to get within web range. My shields barely dented when I deactivated my guns with him in half structure. My account flickered as the 10mil was deposited and I let him go, we chatted for a bit and I gave him some advice on fitting as I learnt he had too small calibre guns fitted. He went to highsec to refit and come back and try again, I agreed the terms of that with stopping in structure but no isk was needed thistime.He came back and the result was the same, no kill but two fights with a keen pilot.

A while later reports filtered down of a Maelstrom entering system so I proceeded to try and track it down, there was a friend in a Vagabond in system with another a few jumps out but I decided to engage as soo as I found him, my cruiser against a battleship. I tracked him down to the first belt and engaged, deployed my ECM drones, webbed, scrammed and opened fire. He returned the favour and it was go, my shileds vapourising as his 800mm guns tore into them but I had started to crack his supposed shield tank, the most common for this class. I broke through his shields, much to my suprise, his armour taking significant damage too. All the while my precious armour was being eaten, unable to get speed up due to being webbed and his guns were tearing great chunks off, the structure took even less time and my escape pod jettisoned into space but I was already in contact with my deck crew to prep another Rupture ASAP, I returned as quick as I could to rejoin the fight but was informed as I undocked that the Malstrom had expired at the hands of my friends Vagabond and a Megathron. A fun fight in the end even though I lost a ship.

I later returned to Gusandall when Keira reported a Rifter class frigate in the Angel complex, I quickly boarded a Jaguar and warped in only to find it empty, I scanned the Rifter down to a belt, warped in and found it killing Angel frigates, I engaged in a short, unremarkable fight, snapping up the escape pod for good measure.

Next up was an Ishtar and Hurricane duo running Cosmic Anomolies in Gusandall, a small gang formed and we eventually found them in a 5/10 complex, i had boarded a Sleipnir and made my way there, having the deck crew fit an afterburner was a good idea due to the interference in complexes. Myself and deathstar warped in first and found the first room empty, we made our way to the second gate over 50 clicks away and warped in, the marks 50km off the warpin point and with our entrance they took it as there cue to leave. A missed opportunity and the gang disbanded and docked up.

Hanging around I got news of a Typhoon sitting still on a gate into highsec, another pilot had bumped him out of jump range but couldn;t engage, I boarded Karma and made all haste there, I warped in to see the battleship sitting still and engaged, in doing so criminally flagging myself to the gate sentries, I had broken through the shields of the Typhoon but had to warp out as my shield systems had failed under the sentry fire, my friends were in warp to the mark but my attack had woken the Typhoon pilot up and he approached the gate and jumped out, my haste causing us to lose a kill, c'est la vie. I can't help it others are sooooo slow :P

There was a bit of bait and blob going on in Eifer but no fight materialised and slowly but surely pilots were going off to do other things, I got busy in station having my deck crew set up a few more Ruptures to the new configuration when Keira reported a lone Hurricane moving between belts, I quickly boarded Karma and undocked. Coming out of warp where he was last spotted I saw him bug out and I left in the same direction, only to see him warp back to where I was. I decided to wait as this indicated he was hunting me. Sure enough he warped in right on top of me and I engaed instantly, warp disruptor kicking in as soon as my lock resolved, my 425s spitting out Barrage ammo. His shields melted and I was into the meat of the mighty battlecruiser, My energy neutralisers making sure any tank would be ineffective. It was only as he entered structure I realised I never deployed drones, and cursed myself but it didn't matter as his structure gave in, his escape pod being jettisoned amidst the flash of the explosion. My targetting systems locked it and the warp disruptor mae sure it was going nowhere, I opened comms with the pilot, exchanged pleasntries of "good fight" and then gave my ransom demand, which he accepted and paid, I deactivated the disruptor and he warped out, I docked up shortly afterwards, the loot of a good fight and kill in my hold. To the victor... the spoils.

A decent day, not epic in any way but a good time nonetheless, the last fight making it all worth it. I dock up for the night, Keira going through the loot from the Angel plex that she had been in.I get the deck crew to unload the loot from my ships and dismiss them for the night, I power down the hangar and go to my corner of the world where a desklamp illuminates my bunk and desk. I light a cigarette and slump into my bunk, lying back and watching the shadows from the small light create sharp edges on the ceiling. I exhale a plume of smoke into the light and it drifts slowly across the hangar.

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